By Nana Carroll Okamoto
Photo by Nick Fewings, June 18, 2020. Unsplash.
Wine, garum and sea-food stews. These were some of the common options offered by the thermopolium – fast-food stalls of Ancient Rome – in ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum. The role of fast-food itself in Ancient Rome has been overlooked due to its close ties with the lives of the non-elites, instead of the upper classes, who have been a more popular topic of study. This means that Pompeii and Herculaneum fast-food businesses are able to inform us about the lives of lower class citizens. In order to better understand the significance of ready-made food, we must dive into class-disparities, foodways, as well as cultural facets of everyday ancient Roman life.
The presence of fast-food in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibit inequalities due to the stigma surrounding it, as the complex lives of lower-class Romans has largely been overshadowed by the illustrious lives of the elites that made up around 0.5% of Ancient Rome’s population (Knapp 2011, 3). These elites dictated the historical narratives, and consequently, their accounts greatly shape the perception of Ancient Rome today (Knapp 2011, 2). The livelihoods of the middle and lower classes are much more poorly recorded and are consequently more difficult to understand. Elites’ diets consisted of varied local produce, but also included imported foods such as sesame, a contrast to food assemblages found of non-elite homes that did not have access to such expensive foods (Rowan 2017, 331). Not only did elites consume richer food than that of the non-elites, they threw lavish parties that were opportunities to bolster social and political connections (Rowan 2017, 332). Non-elites often lived in insulae, large rental buildings with businesses on the bottom and apartments stacked on top in upper levels (Storey 2002, 414). The majority of these dwellings had some form of communal kitchen, and at-home cooking was the primary source of food for the average citizen (Foss 1994, 131-132). What then, was the function of fast-food shops – the thermopolium – in Ancient Rome?
The popularity of fast-food shops was generally more a cultural fixture rather than a forced alternative for the non-elites; a by-product of street culture. Street life in Pompeii and Herculaneum and by extension, Ancient Rome, was particularly lively, and an important part of middle and lower class life (Knapp 2011, 49). It was a means of congregating, and the consumption of food and drink was a common activity to bond with others (Foss 1994, 170). Street culture also provided a means of knowledge — oral discussions provided people with entertainment and literature otherwise inaccessible for the non-elite citizen (Knapp 2011, 49). Street culture, however, as normalized and important as it was for non-elites, was often looked down upon and trivialized by elites or those who catered to them (Hartnett 2017, 52). Even, and perhaps especially when such activities such as circuli – concentrated areas of discussion on the streets of ancient Rome – were being practiced by non-elites, they were mocked due to their rebellious potential (Hartnett 2017, 51-53). Passionate political discourse on the street was ridiculed, concentrated groups of people in the streets were ‘loiterers’, and the language of the people themselves was often a subject of satirists and poets (Hartnett 2017, 48-49). And what was one of the most popular spots for such congregations of folks? The thermopolium, a place where citizens and hot food intermingled in one spot.
Photo by Deirdre Boys, October 13, 2023. Unsplash.
Inequality prevailed in many different facets of Roman society, including food. Through the preservation and excavation of Pompeii and Herculaneum, our understanding of such inequalities can be deepened and corroborated with firsthand literary accounts of ancient Roman life alongside archaeological evidence. Ancient Romans of different classes did interact more often than is popularly believed. Perhaps because Pompeii and Herculaneum were neither particularly rich nor poor, the rigidity of hierarchical thinking was more lax, though the undercurrents and contemporary elitist commentary practically said it all about the perceptions of non-elites by the upper echelons.
As Seneca wrote:
“Consider the most lethargic men … when they are free from all necessary occupations, they demand a gaming board, go off to some sport, or look for a chat, seeking at some circuli or other gathering a substitute for noble and more intellectual delights.” (Hartnett 2017, 52)
The existence of fast-food in Ancient Rome and the discourse around it are symptoms of the lack of equality in this society. The reasons behind the existence of fast-food in Pompeii and Herculaneum are both profound and dynamic. As it turns out, fast food shops do not simply exist because of a lack of accessible foodways, but because of their importance within the daily, social, and cultural lives of non-elite Romans. Thermoplium existed so that Ancient Romans could gather together. They ate whilst participating in heated discussions around politics or gossip, standing upon the cobblestone streets of those now, long gone cities.
Bibliography
Foss, Pedar William. 1994. “Kitchens and Dining Rooms at Pompeii: The Spatial and Social Relationship of Cooking to Eating in the Roman Household. (Volumes I and II).” University of Michigan. https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/129446.
Hartnett, J. 2017. The Roman Street: Urban Life and Society in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2: “Life in the Street” (pp. 45-75)
Knapp, R. 2011. Invisible Romans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Rowan, Erica. 2017. “Bioarchaeological Preservation and Non-Elite Diet in the Bay of Naples: An Analysis of the Food Remains from the Cardo V Sewer at the Roman Site of Herculaneum.” Environmental Archaeology: The Journal of Human Palaeoecology 22 (3): 318-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2016.1235077.
Storey, Glenn R. 2002. “Regionaries-Type Insulae 2: Architectural/Residential Units at Rome.” American Journal of Archaeology 106, no. 3 411–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/4126281.